After winning the first two games of the week against the Twins, the Yankees went on to lose three games in a row. This included a loss in Minnesota, then a two-game sweep by the Phillies. One positive to take from this is that the offense put up five or more runs in two of the three losses before being shut out on Sunday. If the offense and the pitching can start clicking at the same time, the Yankees can find themselves getting back on track this week. They’ll try to do so against the Toronto Blue Jays before hosting the Oakland A’s this weekend. Here are three things to watch for this week in Yankees baseball.
A Winning Record?
This headline can be seen in multiple ways. The Yankees haven’t had a week over .500 since three weeks ago when they went 5-1. Also, they are just one game above .500 on the season entering this week. If they can have a winning record or go 3-3 on the week, then they will stay above .500. This is of course the goal, but it won’t be easy against the Blue Jays and the AL West leading Athletics.
Passing the Blue Jays in the American League East
The Yankees’ lackluster performance over the last few weeks has pushed them back to fourth in the division. The club is now only ahead of the Orioles in the AL East. However, the Yankees will get a solid shot to get back to at least third place this week if they can perform well against Toronto. The team is just one game behind the Blue Jays. This means that a win in the season opener will put them at a tie. If the Yankees can sweep the three-game series, then they will be ahead of the Blue Jays going into the weekend series with Oakland.
Giancarlo Stanton‘s Bat
Giancarlo Stanton has a slash line of .286/.333/.643 through his first nine games of the month. Last week, the slugger had eight RBIs and three homers in the series against Minnesota. That gives him 12 homers and 32 RBI’s so far this season. After struggling earlier this year, Stanton has since moved his OPS up to .844 on the year. Staying hot and getting that OPS up even more can be a big help to this struggling Yankees team.
Featured Image Courtesy of thehour.com.
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